What dont you guys understand about me not wanting to give them anymore of my money, I dont care about 50% off my next cruise. How about they give me 50% back from this past trip, that would make a lot more sense. They also tried to pass the port fee refunds off as presents to us for the inconvenience. We were entitield to those fees because we never used the ports.

G-D Forbid I say something bad about a cruise, I can clearly see why you guy are all so personally offended.

Josh... I think you've got the reaction you have because most people see that you got a 6 day cruise, and as compensation for the problems encountered, a refund of port charges, a 1 day refund (for the day that was cut short), and half off the best price you can find for another cruise.
You still had full use of the ship's facilities, and dining rooms for 6 days, so not quite as awful a scenario as you seem to think it was.

And all of this as compensation caused by problems Carnival was not responsible for.

The port of Grand Cayman is skipped many times by all the cruise lines when sea conditions make it too dangerous to tranfser passengers to and from the pier.
This is also true at the various cruise lines private islands. They are skipped, because of sea conditions, almost as often as they are used.

The cruise contract of ALL the cruise lines state that itinerary may be changed at any time, for any reason.

Of course, the cruise lines prefer to deliver the itineraries they lay out, but there are times, such as this, where that is just not possible.

By law, I don't think they're required to offer any compensation, but for the sake of public relations they chose to offer what most here seem to think is reasonable compensation.

To accuse those who think there was a reasonable compensation package offered by the cruise line, of being Carnival employees is kind of silly.

Just because you want to be told your right in your opinions, doesn't mean people who don't agree with it are involved in some sort of a plot.

Personally I'm delighted for my nephew, who's a college student. He enjoyed the 6 day cruise he got, and with the offer, will get to cruise again for a week for probably less than $300.

Well, as I said before, it was a tough situation for everyone concerned. I wasn't happy with the turn of events, but it could have been worse. I could have been on the Royal Caribbean ship that docked on the Saturday of the accident. They didn't go anywhere! At least Carnival was outside the mouth of the river and could go to Gulfport, Mississippi for a delayed boarding. And I think it was mentioned the Carnival profited from this fiasco. You never profit from disappointing your public. I'm fairly sure Carnival won't lose any money directly from this situation, as the insurance companies covering the ships involved in the accident will need to pay for these inconveniences and what they don't cover, will be covered by Carnival's insurance company, but it's hard to put a figure on a company's lost goodwill. Of course, most people will come to realize in time, that these are unique circumstances that happen from time to time to every cruiseline and hopefully they will refine their procedures to make future situations less difficult. I, for one, will probably never book another cruise that's dependent on a river for access to the ocean or Gulf of Mexico. So much for New Orleans as a cruise port as far as I'm concerned. And I'm also not too excited about the western caribbean anymore, as there are no alternate ports close by, as there are in the eastern caribbean. But then, never say never. I'll live to sail another day. As a matter of fact, I'm booked on the Pride going to the Mexican Riviera in April out of Long Beach, California and I won't have to navigate a river there.

I'm not a Carnival employee...but I will defend them when I feel there is a need. I have heard so many bad reports about them and don't understand why so many people don't like them. I realize that there are going to be those people who prefer one cruiseline over another. That's great...how about an "I prefer so and so because of such and such" instead of a full blown attack on Carnival.

I don't even know if I would have posted on this thread...except that I was shocked by the lack of response to the "three other cruiselines" who refunded money. (There is a cliche I so want to type here...but it wouldn't be right.)

Just out of curiosity though...have you ever gotten money from the same cruiseline twice, Josh?

Geez, if you've gotten money back 3 times, what the heck are you doing still going on cruises, sounds like you haven't been satisfied in the past. I'm not saying weather your justified or not in your complaints now - I wasn't there, can't make a judgement call on that (and shouldn't) but 3 times before . . . . there is some writing on the wall that this just isn't the type of vacation for you.

Location: Wisconsin....about 100 miles south of the Frozen Tundra and 70 miles east of Camp Randall

Posts: 9,745

Re: WORST VACTION EVER!!!

Josh - give me the name, dates and amount of total refunds (and the details about WHY you received those refunds) for the three cruises you say you got TOTAL refunds for...until you do, I do NOT believe one word you say about this cruise except for the fact the the Mississippi River was closed to marine traffic due to a fatality accident.

I, too, thought it was funny that just because people disagree and are trying to help him see the "brighter" side to this, he thinks that the posters here are Carnival employees. Hee hee.

Well, it seems to be that compensation was made. I have never cruised before. My first cruise will be with Carnival this August, so I am not a Carnival faithful. I could cancel right now with no loss of my money, but I am not going to. I have interpreted everything I have heard in this thread a completely different way....so no...I am not reading this like you are "saving" me or warning me from an awful fate. I see a cruiseline that bent over backwards to please their guests and then on top of all that compensated them when the contract states that they don't have to for circumstances beyond their control. That is a cruiseline I definitely want to do business with. WOW...50% off of your next cruise? That is awesome. You get to cruise again for a considerable savings. You really should start looking at things as the glass is half full. Life is so much more wonderful that way. The fact that you have got 3 full refunds in the past on cruises leads me to believe something is fishy (no pun intended). I mean, sounds like you look for ways to cruise free before you even leave port. Good luck on your class action lawsuit. My brother is a lawyer and I am telling you, you are gonna need all the luck in the world to win this one. Save your legal fees and take another cruise. Don't use Carnival though, I think that Carnival will be just as happy without you as you will be without them.

He can forget about the lawsuit. Any lawsuits involving these cruiseships has to go through the Maritime Courts in Miami and you start out there with 2 strikes against you. That's like going to a gunfight with a knife, a butter knife, a plastic butter knife. Good luck !!!

Well said Kuki,
And I would like to add. Carnival, or any cruiseline, has ZERO control of what is happening on the land. They get to PAY FOR EVERYTHING that's happening on the land, but they have NO authority. Everything from the ships lines tying it to the dock and inland is administered by the port authority, customs, and the stevedore's union.
Customs decides who's getting checked and when. which bus they will go on and when. Port authority decides when check in for pax and space for luggage will be and when it will be available. Stevedore's decide what will be moved and when.
All the cruiseline can do is beg these people to help. They have NO way to put pressure on them. And they can only report to the pax what they are being told.

All the pax, both disembarking and embarking have NO legal claim to anything. So whatever Carnival gave them was a gift.
Many that booked their own air want Carnival to pay any extra's they had to pay. Why not gripe to the airline, demand compensation and discount and free flights from them. They were just as responsible as the cruiselines were.

There was an interesting post on another board from a passenger on RCCL in NOLA. How they sat on their ship and watched the Carnival pax on the dock. While they sat on their ship KNOWING they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. And they sat there until Wednesday and then cruised to nowhere and came back..

Another interesting post was about a local Narlins group with their TA. The TA got on the phone, used their local connections and got their own bus. They loaded the bus boarded and went to leave. Customs, NOT Carnival stopped them, made them get off the bus, offload their bags and sent the bus away. Customs told them they would say who goes where when..
Does any of this shine a different light on any of the events?

I have been on 22 cruises , and I can truly say that not one of them has gone 100% without trouble! One cruise we didn't hit ANY of the ports of call! Yes, it was disappointing, and we were upset, but not enough to ruin the cruise. We enjoyed what we could, after all, it was important to enjoy, not to brew! Another cruise my husband got food poisoning, which wasn't pleasant, but these things happen. Another time my teen daughter was sexually touched by a Mexican employee in port. We didn't sue the ship because this happened. Some people would have said it was the fault of the cruise line for sending us to a port which this occurred at. Not my thinking. Of course we wanted to shoot the guy! I think your circumstances were very unfortunate, and I can't assume that I understand your feelings, because I have not walked in your shoes, but it is important to take what comes and make the best of it. I see that the major problems that occurred on your trip was not the fault of the cruise line.I can say though that I know the disappointment you felt with the missing of the ports. I just don't think there are any cruise lines that can guarantee to go to all ports. Weather and other conditions can change a ships course.

I don't want to get involved with who is right and who is wrong, but I was on that cruise, too. Don't think that Carnival wasn't making money while we were at sea for over 4 days. We arrived on board the ship very late on Sunday (early Monday morning) and didn't get off until Cozumel on Friday morning. Carnival was sure making money at the casino, bars and shops while at sea for those days. People were gambling, drinking and shopping like crazy (even the salon was packed). I know my Sail N Sign card was smoking. It kept us busy!

We did have a good time on the cruise but sure did miss the chance to go to Grand Cayman and Jamaica. We didn't even get to snorkel in Cozumel.

This was my second Carnival cruise. The first was on the Holiday which got stuck on a sandbard in Mexico. That time, too, we seem to be left out in the cold (so to speak). They just shipped us off by ferry boat and shoved us into buses to head out to the Cancun airport never to see or speak to any of their representative. HaHa . . . this cruise was my 50% discounted one from the last cruise. The joke was on me (and several others that were from the previous cruise).

All in all everyone knows that Carnival wasn't at fault with the accident. However, it was upsetting when so many things went wrong. The joke around the ship was, "And remember . . . you ARE on vacation."

Both cruises were wild with lots of kaos and angry crowds with those in charge not knowing anything. Who knows . . . third times a charm!? Yeah, right!

This will be our first cruise (5/23/04 Paradise) and believe me,
whatever happens will be viewed as an adventure. Just getting
away from everyday obligations and the midwest weather will be
a treat!!!!!

For those of you who think that carnival was not at fault for this disastorous cruise, let me set the record straight for you. First of all Carnival had at least 30 hours to find suitable transportation for those that were unboarding and boarding the Conquest. That is plenty of time to find more busses than they obtained. ( 5 BUSSES FOR OVER 3500 PASSENGERS!!!!!!!) This in itself shows that they were incompetent!!!! This was only 3500 that were boarding. I do agree that the accident in the mississippi was a very sad thing , but Carnival should have a alternative in place for just such an event.
I was on this cruise myself and I agree with Josh very much!!! I have been in the tourism business for many years and the way Carnival treated their passengers was appalling to say the least. The misinformation and the lack of any information during embarkation was so bad!!!! If I had known that they only had 5 BUSSES the entire time we were waiting I would have asked for my money back as soon as we arrived. Carnival deceived us by letting us think there were 55 BUSSES to take us to the ship!!! Those of you that did not go on this cruise have no idea what it was like being lied to over and over again!!! The first room we are told there are 55 BUSSES to take us to the ship, the second room we wait another 11/2 hours standing in line only to be led to a third room, where they tell us they have 27 BUSSES to take us to the ship. Ten minutes later a person in management comes out to talk to us. By this time we have been waiting 12 hours to board, I finally asked the person how many BUSSES they have. He says 5!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 lousey BUSSES to get 3500 to gulfport from New Orleans!!!!!!!! Now you tell me that this is an oganization that is the top cruise line in the world??????? This is bullshit!!!!! I don't care if Mardis Gras was going on or not there are a lot of places to get BUSSES!!!!!!!! There are a lot of states that could have provided BUSSES for this cruise line!!!! As a matter of fact later we learned that there were at least 150 BUSSES available in New Orleans, but Carnival was too CHEAP to pay their price for them!!!!!
I do agree that some things happen that you cannot control, but this is not one of those times!!!! The fact that they offered 50% off our next cruise with carnival is a joke!!!! We lost one day at sea, we lost our port at Jamaica, we lost our port at Grand Caymen, we lost our excursions at Cozemel, we basically lost our entire vacation!!!!! We basically paid to go to Mexico to shop!!!!! I could have drove their for cheaper and would have enjoyed it more!!!!!! Anyone that is in the tourism business knows that you must have a backup plan and if not you need to make your customers happy. Well this is one customer that is not happy about their practices at all!!! If they had offered me half my money back then I would have been satisfied,but to offer me 50% another cruise with carnival.............I don't think so. That is like me paying 150% for a cruise that I am satisfied with. No matter how you look at it Carnival was untruthful and did not want to take the blame for their part in the whole situation!!! Needless to say I will not EVER EVER go on another cruise with Carnival again!!!!! This was INDEED THE CRUISE FROM HELL!!!!!!!! SJW

SJW:
I'll be very straightforward. WHAT IS DONE IS DONE AND CARNIVAL DID WHAT THEY COULD.
It's not exactly easy to get BUSES *that's ONE s between the u and the e* for a major cruise line in the middle of mardi gras when it A) takes time to get buses in from other cities and states and B) all those buses are already there and have other business.
Then you have to deal with authorities moving stuff around.
the river had not been closed in DECADES! Carnival had no reason to expect those problems. You should be thankful that they compensated you at least as well if not better than was outlined in the ticket contract that you signed in order to board.
The fact of the matter is New Orleans at Mardi Gras time is just about as busy as anywhere gets. PERIOD. Carnival had no choice but to do what they could.
Please keep in mind that Carnival is not all powerful and is incapable of preventing accidents shutting down the darn river at peak times while Mardi Gras is in full force. They also cannot do a very good job at manipulating the weather.
Stuff happens, and if you're not willing or able to buck up to rolling with the punches and making the best of things, I think you should re-evaluate your attitude.
Naturally in the middle of mardi gras with all that stuff going on its hard to locate all those buses, negotiate a deal for times and money, all with several different companies.
They offered you 50% off your next cruise. That's not too shabby. They did that on top of the missed port credits afforded to you under the ticket contract. Considering a lot of the cruise is the ship itself, assuming you have the sense to try and make the best of it and enjoy it, 50% off antoher cruise is pretty good.
You have to go with the flow. If weather makes it difficult or impossible to SAFELY and EFFICIENTLY tender back and forth and anchor, the Captain has to make the call whether to take the chance or not. If he feels it might be dangerous, he is responsible for the safety of his passengers and taking risks with people paying for a cruise already having problems out of his control is not exactly smart.
Have you called them up to see if they'll give you a partial refund or a full refund? It might be worth a shot. If not, just remember they gave you more than you were entitled to according to what you signed.

__________________ Holiday 5-day Western Caribbean Liberty 8 day Western

Has anyone also thought that even CARNIVAL didn't know exactly what the schedule was?
In this sort of a case carnival is 90% dependant on outside sources of assistance, and sometimes they will lie or not know to CARNIVAL and thus CCL doesn't know the whole truth.

__________________ Holiday 5-day Western Caribbean Liberty 8 day Western

Carnival does have one thing going for them, voss, and they did give everyone more than they were legally entitled to.

"If an itinerary change occurs while a ship is at sea or when notice prior to sailing is not feasible, Carnival shall attempt to substitute an alternative port. No compensation shall be provided to guests when an alternative port is offered. If an alternative port is not provided, guests shall be provided a shipboard credit of $20 per person. The Vacation Guarantee shall not be affected by this policy. The complete Port Cancellation Policy can be found under the Guest Services section of carnival.com."
That is carnival's policy, which by boarding the vessel you are entitled to and nothing else. Carnival was nice enough to give 50% off the next cruise, which they didn't need to do, but to refund 3500 people their full price on a mardi gras time cruise because of unavoidable conditions isn't economically feasible, I don't think. If you choose a certain itinerary i'd think that the credit could even be worth more than your cruise!

__________________ Holiday 5-day Western Caribbean Liberty 8 day Western

I am guilty of often times not doing this in many situations because I just feel like 1) it's too long and small to read anyway, 2) i'm sure it basically exempts the organization out of any problem that may occur that I will have no recourse to alter and 3) i most likely feel that problems happen in a minority of the cases anyway. So whatchado??? Not take a cruise, buy a car, get a blockbuster video account, rent a home???? Sure we do! And when things go wrong.........and I KNOW this is correct...........it all depends on WHO YOU DEAL WITH if you will be 'helped' or not!

I used to work in retail myself and I had this assistant manager who wouldn't budge an inch when problems occured. She'd stick to the letter of the law! Needless to say, some would end up in my office and, even though we had the good ole fine print to back us up, I'd usually do something to help them out. Sometimes it was a compromise, and sometimes (especially if they were good repeat customers) a full compensation. Just know that if you got my assistant manager that you wouldn't get JACK and if you happened to be the kind of person to take it a step further, you'd get me and I would help you most times in the interest of goodwill and, of course, my bottom line!

I believe that not reading the fine print is a common occurence and that could be why I've noticed now that we often have to initial 'along the way' in such documents because a popular defense is now that "yes, I signed it your honor,but I didn't read it!". And...surprise!!! This defense is actually viable because companies shove 4,000 words of warning within this small amount of space and decrease the font to like 4 and expect everyone to read it with a fine tooth comb, ponder the information, make a decision of whether this is something you can live with, and accept the aggreement....all while someone is sitting across from you looking at thier watch!!

To be frank, when you take a cruise, I bet the majority of cruisers do not read the fine print and therefore do not understand fully how much they are NOT entitled to! I know I had not read it, until today, and boy am I surprised!! I have cruised Carnival twice now and yes, I had the most wonderful time on both!! Really wonderful. But I must admit it is a little daunting to know that Carnival is essentially responsible for nothing and any compensation is a gift.

In sum, now that I know that, I probably will not be as upset when/if anything unfortunate occurs on my next cruise. Whether I spend my money on the vessel or at a port, I guess I'll still spend the same amount. I guess I'd get a little bored of the ship after even 2 days straight (we are more port-lovers than sea day-lovers). I guess I'd be neutral in this kind of situation: I'd be dissapointed but I'd still have fun. But at the same time, I feel that had this past cruise been a bust like Josh's, I probably would feel the same as he and find someone who is willing to help me.